Publius Terentius Afer (195/185–159 BC), known as Terence, was a playwright of North African descent in the Roman Republic. He is believed to have lived in the territory of a Libyan tribe, called Afri by the Romans, near Carthage, before being brought him to Rome as a slave by Terentius Lucanus, a Roman senator. The senator educated him and later, impressed by his abilities, freed him. Terence’s comedies were performed for the first time around 170–160 BC. He wrote six plays, and died young.

A famous quote from his play Heauton Timorumenos reads: "Homo sum, humani nihil a me alienum puto", which translates as: "I am a man, I consider nothing that is human alien to me."